Observation/Reflection #2: Eyes in the Back of Your Head: Observing Student Actions
From a seat in the rear of the room, observe your students and take notes on what they are doing while the teacher is presenting in the front of the room, while they are supposed to be doing seatwork, and/or when they are working in the lab. Look closely at each student for a range of behaviors, and resist the temptation on only see what you expect. Note especially what is happening furthest from the teacher. What strategies are used by your teacher to encourage students to attend and engage?
How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
Observations:
Today was my second visit to Middletown High School. The Biology classes worked on a cell lab with Onion, Elodea leaves, and blood cells, while the AP Biology class had a lecture on enzymatic processes in preparation for the Enzyme Lab they will be doing next week. The first class this morning was A block, and they got started on the lab as soon as the late bell rang. Mrs. Ferreira gave them brief instructions on cleaning up after themselves then told them the rest of the instruction were on the lab sheets. Students paired off to complete the lab and begin by getting a layer of onion cells. Everyone seemed on task in this class and Mrs. Ferreira jumped right in a gave a class demonstration when some students were having trouble with the iodine stain. Only one student really stuck out as needing encouragement to stay on task because he continually spoke loudly about his love for Pizza Hut. Even though he was repeatedly re-focused by Ms. Remy, the co-teacher, he eventually was excused to the nurse because he said he was going to throw- up. Other than this incident, Mrs. Ferreira and Ms. Remy walked about the class checking through students' microscopes, asking and answering questions. B block was the AP Bio class and they took notes the whole class. Two students in the back, a boy and girl, appeared to be passing a note, but they also were following along with the lecture. This went unrecognized by Mrs. Ferreira, but she did stop when a different boy got up to talk to a girl in the back of the room. She asked him to return to his seat, and he said, "just one quick second," she responded, "you can have your quick second after I finish my quick second," and he sighed, but walked back to his seat right away. The third class was another Biology class with the same lab as A block. These students seemed more on task than the first because, at the end of class they had completed more of the lab questions. There was one group who did not get very far probably because one of the girls kept talking about how she pronounces her "n's" funny. I talked to them a few times, explaining that they would fall behind if they don't move on to the next part of the lab, which seemed to help because they were caught by the end of class. In both the regular bio classes Mrs. Ferreira had students clean up about five minutes early, and once they were settled explained that homework would be to answer any lab questions up to the point in lab they had finished.
Reflections:
One of the first things I recognized when Mrs. Ferreira finished lab instructions was that she did not go to her comupter or desk to take care of her own work. I remember hearing from many of my education professors that there are teachers who take advantage of group work to correct papers and other actions that don't require them to pay attention to their students. Judging from students progress with the lab, many of them would not have gotten too far without Mrs. Ferriera walking around, glancing over their shoulders. Only a few students actually asked questions when they were stumped, but many of them just sat there and stared at the paper when they were unsure of what to do next. I walked around with Mrs. Ferreira and simply by asking, "how's it going over here?" The student was prompted to speak up about where he/she was stuck and then able to figure it out and move on. As far as engagement goes, it is obvious that students need to be engaged because if they aren't paying attention to what they are being taught there is no way they are going to be able to learn it. Group activities are one of the best ways to engage students because they are responsible for finding the answers, which requires active participation. In the AP Bio class engagement was still important and used, but through Mrs. Ferreira's actions in front of the class. Lectures can definitely have a way of losing the students, but MRs. Ferreira made it fun by repeatedly saying how she was going to draw a masterpiece of how enzymatic reactions take place. She also used an analogy with the OLympic coach Belagosi, which made the students laugh and have something familiar to help them remember emzymatic reactions. I would like to be able to use the same strategies as Mrs. Ferreira because group work helps the students develop interpersonal skills as well as content understanding. I also hope I will get a chance to make my students laugh once in a while because if you can learn with laughter it's got to be pretty good.
Class Topic: Biology Grade: 9-12 Observed by: Beth Copeley
Observation/Reflection #2: Eyes in the Back of Your Head: Observing Student Actions
From a seat in the rear of the room, observe your students and take notes on what they are doing while the teacher is presenting in the front of the room, while they are supposed to be doing seatwork, and/or when they are working in the lab. Look closely at each student for a range of behaviors, and resist the temptation on only see what you expect. Note especially what is happening furthest from the teacher. What strategies are used by your teacher to encourage students to attend and engage?How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
Observations:
Today was my second visit to Middletown High School. The Biology classes worked on a cell lab with Onion, Elodea leaves, and blood cells, while the AP Biology class had a lecture on enzymatic processes in preparation for the Enzyme Lab they will be doing next week. The first class this morning was A block, and they got started on the lab as soon as the late bell rang. Mrs. Ferreira gave them brief instructions on cleaning up after themselves then told them the rest of the instruction were on the lab sheets. Students paired off to complete the lab and begin by getting a layer of onion cells. Everyone seemed on task in this class and Mrs. Ferreira jumped right in a gave a class demonstration when some students were having trouble with the iodine stain. Only one student really stuck out as needing encouragement to stay on task because he continually spoke loudly about his love for Pizza Hut. Even though he was repeatedly re-focused by Ms. Remy, the co-teacher, he eventually was excused to the nurse because he said he was going to throw- up. Other than this incident, Mrs. Ferreira and Ms. Remy walked about the class checking through students' microscopes, asking and answering questions. B block was the AP Bio class and they took notes the whole class. Two students in the back, a boy and girl, appeared to be passing a note, but they also were following along with the lecture. This went unrecognized by Mrs. Ferreira, but she did stop when a different boy got up to talk to a girl in the back of the room. She asked him to return to his seat, and he said, "just one quick second," she responded, "you can have your quick second after I finish my quick second," and he sighed, but walked back to his seat right away. The third class was another Biology class with the same lab as A block. These students seemed more on task than the first because, at the end of class they had completed more of the lab questions. There was one group who did not get very far probably because one of the girls kept talking about how she pronounces her "n's" funny. I talked to them a few times, explaining that they would fall behind if they don't move on to the next part of the lab, which seemed to help because they were caught by the end of class. In both the regular bio classes Mrs. Ferreira had students clean up about five minutes early, and once they were settled explained that homework would be to answer any lab questions up to the point in lab they had finished.Reflections:
One of the first things I recognized when Mrs. Ferreira finished lab instructions was that she did not go to her comupter or desk to take care of her own work. I remember hearing from many of my education professors that there are teachers who take advantage of group work to correct papers and other actions that don't require them to pay attention to their students. Judging from students progress with the lab, many of them would not have gotten too far without Mrs. Ferriera walking around, glancing over their shoulders. Only a few students actually asked questions when they were stumped, but many of them just sat there and stared at the paper when they were unsure of what to do next. I walked around with Mrs. Ferreira and simply by asking, "how's it going over here?" The student was prompted to speak up about where he/she was stuck and then able to figure it out and move on. As far as engagement goes, it is obvious that students need to be engaged because if they aren't paying attention to what they are being taught there is no way they are going to be able to learn it. Group activities are one of the best ways to engage students because they are responsible for finding the answers, which requires active participation. In the AP Bio class engagement was still important and used, but through Mrs. Ferreira's actions in front of the class. Lectures can definitely have a way of losing the students, but MRs. Ferreira made it fun by repeatedly saying how she was going to draw a masterpiece of how enzymatic reactions take place. She also used an analogy with the OLympic coach Belagosi, which made the students laugh and have something familiar to help them remember emzymatic reactions. I would like to be able to use the same strategies as Mrs. Ferreira because group work helps the students develop interpersonal skills as well as content understanding. I also hope I will get a chance to make my students laugh once in a while because if you can learn with laughter it's got to be pretty good.Class Topic: Biology
Grade: 9-12
Observed by: Beth Copeley